Fears voiced that residents 'not heard' in row over East of England Showground development

The concerns of residents about multi-million pound development plans for the East of England Showground are not being heard, it has been claimed.

The alarm has been sounded by the action group SPURR (Showground Plans Under Resident Review) which wants residents’ views about how the proposed 1,500 homes and leisure village plan will impact their daily lives taken into consideration.

Showground promoter AEPG has submitted two outline planning applications for the development which are to be considered by Peterborough City Council’s planning committee on October 15.

SPURR is to host a public meeting at Orton Wistow School on October 11 from 6pm to 7pm for residents to air their views ahead of the planning meeting.

Councillor Nicola Day, who is one of the representatives of the Orton Waterville ward, is urging residents to find out more about the work of the group and raise their ideas, concerns or issues.

She said: “While businesses, groups and organisations have rightly had a voice in this process, residents living nearest to the site were worried that their concerns weren’t being heard.”

The group has already highlighted a range of concerns about the development – some relating to the provision of medical/dental services, educational facilities and affordable housing.

Cllr Day said: “For many decades the Showground staged events, attractions and exhibitions for the benefit of Peterborough people and attracted hundreds of thousands of tourists.

"It placed Peterborough on the map and the financial benefit to the city has been enormous.

"But SPURR fears it could be lost to yet another large housing scheme with a limited range of leisure facilities.

Another major concern is an increase in traffic and congestion on and near Oundle Road.

Cllr Day said: “Even now, Oundle Road can be pretty chaotic.

"Adding this massive volume of vehicles via a single access onto such an already busy road is going to have a massive impact on traffic and congestion.’’

She said that SPURR was not seeking to defeat the development.

Instead, she said, there was a need for plans to be reconsidered and resubmitted with ‘a more worthwhile range of leisure, cultural, community and visitor facilities’ which can properly compensate for the loss of the Showground.